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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rookie winger Beau Bennett, a California native, isn't from there. He's from Gardena, which is about 15 miles southwest of the city, closer to the Pacific, over by Manhattan Beach.

But there's definitely some Hollywood in his game.

A first-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft, Bennett is one of the most imaginative offensive players to join the Penguins in years. Need a no-look pass from the right-wing boards to the far post or a between-the-legs pass from the left-wing corner to the slot? He's your man.

Bennett doesn't play the way he does for show. It's more of a product of his upbringing.

The trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988, three years before Bennett was born, sparked rapid growth of ice hockey in Southern California, but the Penguins rookie isn't exactly a direct product of that boom.

Bennett's roots are in roller hockey, not ice hockey. He began playing the roller version of the game at age 4 and continued until he got serious about pursuing the ice version as a profession at age 15.

"California is the premier roller hockey place," Bennett said. "There are a couple of colleges you can go to with roller hockey scholarships."

Roller hockey, by tradition and by rule, is more free flowing than ice hockey. There's no icing, offsides or hitting and players don't generally spend hours practicing defensive systems. It promotes creativity.

"As far as seeing the play, I think roller helps that," Bennett said. "You can use the whole (rink) to make plays because there are no lines."

Those skills helped Bennett put up 120 points in 56 games in Junior A hockey in British Columbia in 2009-10 and 38 points in 47 games during two seasons at the University of Denver. They've helped him show signs of great offensive promise in his first few weeks as a pro too.

"His hands and his vision are very good," coach John Hynes said. "He knows what he's going to do with the puck before he gets it. A lot of the best offensive players, they're one step ahead. As the puck comes, they know where it's going to go. They feel pressure as it comes and they know how to make the quick-release plays. That's what he can do."

And here's the cool part: Hynes has no plans to try to break Bennett of his creative ways.

"In the offensive zone, he makes good decisions," Hynes said. "He's a high-end skill player and he doesn't make a lot of hope plays. He's going to make a hockey play or he's going to keep it. You leave him alone in those situations."

In other words, the Penguins would like to see Bennett be disciplined when it's time to be disciplined and create when it's time to create, and he's totally on board with that plan.

"You play the system, play it to a T, and then see where you have room on the ice," Bennett said.

That's not to say Bennett is a finished product ready to take pro hockey by storm.

Hynes said he'd like to see the rookie develop more acceleration in the neutral zone and more deception in his game so he doesn't get contained in the corner in the offensive zone. He has to develop some better habits when it comes to positioning and stick placement in the defensive zone.

Bennett says he'd like to improve his skating too, trying to rid himself of the last vestiges of his roller-hockey stride. And it wouldn't hurt if he continues to get stronger, even though he has already added 15 pounds to a frame that was a little slight at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds on draft day.

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